An artist learning her craft.

Canyonlands

My inspiration came from sunny Utah this week. I watched ‘127 Hours’ again. It’s a film about a guy called Aron Ralston who went canyoneering without telling anyone where he was going or when he would be back. He was really experienced in the outdoors but got caught out when a large boulder shifted and trapped his arm leaving him completely stuck.

Official poster of Danny Boyle’s film ‘127 Hours’

After watching the film I was struck by the beauty of the canyonlands. The nearest we have to this kind of thing is the Cheddar Gorge in England and because of the rain the land is very green and lush, quite unlike Utah’s harsh orange beauty. So I looked through a lot of photos of the canyons and the mesas and decided to make a picture of them.

Pencils…

Watercolour under-painting…

Nearly finished – just working on the final touches…

Final colour with Winsor Newton Gouache…

I used a similar style to last time (England in the Summer) where I avoided blending and just used shapes to convey the surface of the landscape. I like the clarity and solidity of each field of colour and because I really like that, it really helps me avoid painting every detail and instead look for the general shapes which is something I find really hard.

I really wish i could make pictures like you, or indeed the people whose paintings I am listing on UniquePaintingsofWales. Time to sit down to try would be good. The right frame of mind would be a further step forwards. Then, the ability to make narks which would satisfy me would be great. If my paintings appealed to other people, that would be even better.

Thank you so much for taking an interest in my pictures. Listing them is something of a marathon task. There are some hundreds to go.